Say it again
by Lady Dee M
Summary: [One-shot] Is a special day in Desert Bluffs, but, most of all, is a special day for the local radio host.


**Disclaimer:**** "Welcome to Night Vale" is property of Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor.**

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**Summary:** Is a special day in Desert Bluffs, but, most of all, is a special day for the local radio host.

**Shoutout to DesertDaylight for beta-reading this for me, you're the sweetest! **

**First Day.**

**Imagine a man.**

Um, yeah, that's pretty good, we will roll with it. Now, we will give him a name.

This man's name is Kevin. He is the Voice of Desert Bluffs and the prophet for the local Church of the Smiling God.

Now let's see what Kevin has been up to…

Kevin woke up with a start, heart racing and body covered in cold sweat. This was a normal thing to happen if you live in Desert Bluffs, where everybody has the very same dream every night without fail. How happy it made him to share such a precious thing with his community!

The radio host smiled when he rolled over, half-expecting to see his boyfriend sleeping next to him. Kevin and Charles had finally decided to move in together after just a couple months of dating, was there anything more delightful than waking up next to the man of your dreams every single day?

However, Kevin soon found out that the bed was empty and cold, as cold as it can get in a desert, that's it. He propped himself on his elbow and tilted his head curiously, had Charles got up before him? That certainly wasn't strange, his boyfriend was an extremely light sleeper and anything could have woken him up. He himself decided to get up and dressed, maybe get himself a cup of coffee as well. It was a special day after all and he wanted to enjoy every second of it!

He grabbed his clothes from where he had hanged them the night before; a light yellow dress shirt with orange sunflowers patterns on the sleeves, blood-orange pants and a red tie with little white teeth painted on it; and took a shower in the in-suite bathroom. After Strex and their strict policies of how employee's work attire was supposed to be, it was hard for him to break the habit. Strex always made him wear muted colors and plain clothes, oh, how he missed his bright and patterned clothes! It was a part of him, and now nobody was going to take it away again, he was going to make sure of it.

Charles came into the room while he was trying to fix his tie, he didn't wear those often anymore and he was having problems with the knot.

"Good morning, sunshine" he greeted, before kissing him on the lips and fixing his tie for him. "I thought you were still sleeping. Anyways, I just made breakfast, do you want coffee or tea?" he asked.

"Coffee" he answered. "How do I look? Do I look alright?"

Charles pecked his lips again.

"You look gorgeous, Kevin" he stated, smoothing his boyfriend's tie.

"Aw, you look very handsome today too, you flatterer!" the radio host giggled. "Is Donny up yet?"

"No, I thought you would like to wake him, you're as excited for today as he is".

"How could I not? It's Donovan's first day of school, Charles!" he retorted, making him laugh.

Kevin kissed Charles once more and headed for the little boy's room, in which walls were covered in airplanes posters and the floor was littered with toys. The man smiled at how peaceful his boyfriend's son looked in his bed, clutching a stuffed version of the Desert Bluffs' Cacti's mascot that he himself had gotten him. Still smiling, he sat on the edge of the bed next to him, taking a moment to caress the boy's cheek, even in his sleepy state, Donovan seemed to be _smiling_, wasn't it adorable?

Back when he and Charles started dating, he wasn't mad about him not telling about his son, he wasn't exactly _happy _about it, but yeah, he hadn't told Charles about his occasional night terrors either back then. When he found out about Donovan, it did scare him away, but not for the reasons that his boyfriend thought of. He didn't mind he had a kid at all! But… no, Kevin himself was the problem.

Years ago, he and his then-girlfriend Vanessa had talked about having kids, and he was ecstatic with the idea! He loved kids. But then Strexcorp came to town… and all their future together crumbled. The company made them break-up if they wanted to keep their jobs, they keep them apart, little by little they drifted apart, until Vanessa was just another intern, until Vanessa was nothing more than a dried up bloody handprint in his studio.

After the trauma he had endured, after all the blood that he had spilled, was he suited to be a father? Was he going to be _capable_ of helping Charles raise Donovan? He had asked the Smiling God for a sign, but got none, he understood that his God must have more pressing matters, but it still hurt to not have been acknowledged. However, if Charles was willing to let him into Donny's life then he was going to suck his insecurities up like a man and take a dive. He wasn't, under any circumstances, going to make Charles regret his decision.

He had grown to love Donovan so much… the little boy had stolen his heart as much as his father had. He had even took Donovan to the radio station in those occasions that his boyfriend was working in his new job as a college professor and Grandma Josephine wasn't available to babysit. The five-year-old seemed delighted to be let into the booth, which, luckily, hadn't been redecorated since Carlos had left. Kevin loved teaching him what all the buttons in the mixer did, how did the microphone worked, even if he could understand none of it. His heart had melted in a way he didn't remember ever feeling when Donny told Charles that he wanted to be a radio host like Kevin when he grew up.

Oh… he would do _anything _for those vibrant little blue eyes and mischievous, but contagious, smile. **Anything**.

"Donny…" he shook the boy's shoulder gently and he rolled over covering himself with the blankets, but Kevin could still hear him giggle. "Rise and shine, buddy! You wouldn't want to miss your first day, do you?"

That seemed to get him to get up almost instantly, and Kevin beamed proudly before helping Donovan getting out of his pajamas and dressed for the day. Barely minutes later, the prophet was carrying his boyfriend's son in his arms as they entered the kitchen. Charles was already waiting with a full breakfast for the three of them when they sat. They chatted while eating, though most of the conversation was done by Donovan and Kevin, while Charles smiled and made small comment here and there, he welcomed all the chatter that came from his usually quiet son. They traveled a lot, so he figured that finally settling in a city and getting to be around other kids his age was going to be good for him.

"I heard there's going to be a big ceremony to welcome all the kids that are just starting school, like Donny" Charles stated.

"Yes! There will be candy too! Daddy-Kevin, you are coming with us, right?" Donovan asked hopeful and excited, turning to face the radio host.

Both Charles and Kevin froze. Had Donovan really…?

"…what did you just call me…?" he asked slowly, hoping he didn't heard wrong.

The five-year-old tilted his head in confusion, and then smiled.

"Daddy-Kevin" he repeated, and then explained, "Because you're my daddy too!" when the adults didn't respond he reverted back into his usually shy self and played with his fork. "Is that okay?" he asked doubtfully without looking at them.

Silence filled the kitchen. Charles was worried that Kevin didn't felt comfortable with Donovan calling him that yet, if ever. So he was under stably taken aback when his boyfriend got up, almost knocking his chair to the floor, before kneeling and enveloping the little boy in a hug.

"Of course it's okay!" he answered, and even though Charles couldn't see Kevin's face, he could hear his voice overcome with emotion. "It's okay because, yes, I'm your daddy and you're my son, my perfect and beautiful son…" his voice broke as he pulled away, smiling at Donovan, who smiled back.

"I love you, Daddy-Kevin!" he laughed, not old enough to realize the impact his words had.

"I love you too, Donny"

"Donovan, if you've finished eating, get your backpack ready, we will be leaving soon" Charles said. "And of course Kevin is coming with us".

Donovan cheered a bit, giving Kevin one last squeeze before heading upstairs to his room to pick his stuff. Charles started picking up the table, when he noticed that his boyfriend, who hadn't moved an inch, was crying. Well, not crying _per se_, Kevin hadn't been able to do that since Strex, but he did saw his shoulders shake slightly as two thick and bloody drops trailed down his cheeks.

"Kevin? Is everything okay?"

The radio host blinked and looked at him, before biting his lip.

"Charles…" he sounded fine, aside from the small quiver in his voice. "Donny called me 'Daddy'".

"He did, sunshine" he agreed as he nodded, and then he smiled again, happy about this turn of events as he put the dishes in the sink –they could do them later-, before taking some paper towels and helping Kevin to his feet, so he could clean his 'tears'.

"Donny, say he loves me…"

"I know, babe, I was right here, I heard him…" the theologist answered patiently, while cleaning up his boyfriend's cheeks.

If he had to be honest, not only had that cute interaction melted his heart, it has surpassed all of his expectations. He had hoped Kevin and Donovan will grew to, at least, like each other, but never in a million years had it occurred to him that he would hear his son call Kevin 'Daddy'.

"Your son called me 'Daddy', Charles" Kevin repeated, delighted and still in a daze, still smiling.

"_Our _son called you 'Daddy', Kevin" Charles corrected, enjoying the look of disbelief in the other man's face. He briefly wondered if this was really the place and the time to ask his boyfriend what he was just about to ask, and silently hoped he wouldn't react badly. "We are raising him together now, aren't we?" the radio host nodded once. "If you want to… we can be a family"

"It sounds to me like we already are, my precious Charles" Kevin responded, grasping Charles' hands in his and smiling like he hadn't in years.

A bit later, they were standing in front of the school, that wasn't very far from the college Charles taught classes in, waiting for the ceremony to start. They were surrounded by other parents and their kids. Donovan had reverted to his shy self again and was clutching his father's leg, as if trying to hide himself behind him.

"Donny, come on, buddy…" Charles pleaded as he tried to free himself from his son's grasp, to no avail.

Kevin knelt beside them and put a hand on Donovan's back, one thing that he knew since they met was that the little boy liked his voice; he had told him so, he was going to try and see if he could use it to his advantage.

"Donny, what's wrong?" he asked with a voice a little less high-pitched than his usual one, the one he reserved for two things: his radio show and, frequently, to read the little boy some bedtime stories while Charles watched them and smiled from the bedroom's doorway.

"What if they don't like me?"

"They will learn to…" he answered darkly.

"_Kevin_" Charles warned.

"…because you're a really likable kid" he added. "Also I happen to know one of your teachers, hey, what do you know? There she is!" the radio host stood up and smiled before calling out and waving to a woman. "Ellie!" he called.

Charles lowered his sunglasses when he saw said woman approaching them. She had red locks pulled back in high a ponytail and freckles all over her sunburn-kissed skin. Her outfit was made out of a short-sleeved white blouse and a navy blue pencil skirt, she wore high heels and, strangely enough, had a rolled-up whip attached to her belt. He had seen weirder things, so he just shrugged it off as a Desert Bluffs thing.

"Kevin" she greeted with a smile, before the radio host approached her and kissed both her cheeks, and then he put an arm around her shoulders and turned towards his boyfriend.

"Dear Charles, this is my best friend, Eleanor Harris, we grew up together in Old Desert Bluffs" he gestured at her. "She teaches English here for Elementary and Middle school and she also serves as volunteer Scoutmistress for the Desert Bluffs' Girl Scout Troops".

"Scoutmistresses are not actually a thing, Kev"

"I know what I said, Ellie" he retailed.

"Anyways, nice to meet you, Charles" she said, stretching out her hand, which the theologist took.

"Likewise"

After letting go of the man's hand, she kneeled gracefully to be at his son's height.

"Hi, sweetie, you must Donovan, right?" the little boy nodded. "I will be one of your teachers, how about you come with me to meet some of your classmates?" she stretched out her hand for the boy to take, and he looked at the two men for approval. Kevin nodded and smiled, while Charles freed himself from his grip and told him to go with the teacher. He took the woman's hand and she stood up. "There we go! Let's meet your classmates! Do you want to say bye to your dad?" he nodded.

"Bye, Dad and Daddy-Kevin" he said waving with a nervous smile.

Eleanor smiled at the nickname, then winking at her childhood best friend, as if to say, 'Nice'.

"Bye, buddy" both men said as the boy was led away by his teacher, Charles waved back while Kevin clutched his hands over his chest.

"Oh, Smiling God" the radio host sighed dreadfully, fanning his face to prevent his 'tears' from coming again. "Keep it together, Kevin!" he chastised himself slapping his cheeks softly.

"I don't think anyone would say anything if you cry, sunshine" his boyfriend said, grasping Kevin's shoulders and gesturing with his chin towards other crying mothers around them.

"Yeah, but my voice is going to get all raspy if I cry and I've a show to broadcast in like, five minutes".

Twenty minutes later, Charles turned on the radio that sat on a corner of the teachers' lounge in the Desert Bluffs' Public College. His colleagues, David, who taught Anthropology and Rebecca, who taught Psychology, looked at him knowingly.

"…_hey, I don't like to talk too much about my personal life here. This is your public news station, not Kevin's Personal Life Station, right? However! Something delightful happened today, listeners…" _Charles lifted one of his eyebrows, trying to hide his smile as he poured himself a cup of coffee. _"You see, we all know that today is the first day of school for the youngest members of our community. So, Charles and I took __**our son**__ Donovan to his first school day! Congratulations, Donny! Oh, Smiling God, he was so nervous! But, of course, nobody can deny he is the cutest little gentleman…!" _

Charles smiled, while taking a sip of the mug as Kevin keep gushing about their little boy. Their son.

Charles smile only grew bigger.

**29/4 - 11:28 a.m.**


End file.
